The Word Made Flesh

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Hi, I'm Lori, and I'm part of the Oakland community.

Today's reading is first from Isaiah 60, verses 1-16, and second from John 1, verses 14-18.

Isaiah 60:1–16 John 1:14–18

A reading from the prophet Isaiah.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples.

But the Lord rises on you, and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look about you.

All assemble and come to you.

Your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip.

Then you will look and be radiant.

Your heart will throb and swell with joy.

The wealth on the seas will be brought to you.

To the riches of the nations will come.

I'm sorry, to you the riches of the nations will come.

Herds of camels will cover your land.

Young camels of Midian and Epa.

And from Sheba will come, and all from Sheba will come,

bearing gold and incense, and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you.

The rams of Nebioth will serve you.

And they will be accepted as offerings on my altar.

And I will adorn my glorious temple.

Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?

Surely the islands look to me.

In the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your children from afar,

with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel.

For he has endowed you with splendor.

Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you.

Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion.

Your gates will always stand open.

They will never be shut, day or night,

so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations.

Their kings led in triumphal procession.

For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish.

It will be utterly ruined.

The glory of Lebanon will come to you,

the juniper, the fir, and the cypress together,

to adorn my sanctuary.

And I will glorify the place for my feet.

The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you.

All who despise you will bow down at your feet,

and will call you the city of the Lord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Although you have been forsaken and hated,

with no one traveling through,

I will make you the everlasting pride and joy of all generations.

You will drink the milk of nations,

and be nursed at royal breasts.

Then you will know that I, the Lord,

am your Savior, your Redeemer,

the Mighty One of Jacob.

The grass withers and the flowers fade,

but the word of our God stands forever.

A reading from the Gospel according to John.

John.

The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory,

the glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John testified concerning him.

He cried out, saying,

This is the one I spoke about when I said,

He who comes after me has surpassed me,

because he was before me.

Out of his fullness,

we have all received grace,

in place of grace already given.

For the law was given through Moses.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God,

but the one and only Son,

who is himself God,

and is in closest relationship with the Father,

has made him known.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Good morning, Christ Church.

We are about five days out from Christmas Eve,

and some of us are thinking,

hurry up,

some of us are thinking,

slow down.

Our presents are beginning to pile up

under the tree just a bit,

and I've mentioned to you

that the tree we got this year was huge,

because I wanted to get my money's worth this year,

so lots of girth.

And, you know,

I kind of feel dumb with our tree,

especially with the job of putting the lights on.

That's typically Catherine's job,

because it's a geometry problem

that's way beyond my competency.

I'm not really qualified for this eight-foot cone,

and, like, 40 feet of string,

and the question is, you know,

how many times do you bank it around that cone?

And for me,

I'm going, like, two-thirds of the way up

and running out of lights.

So, and once I'm not going back down,

I'm not going to unwind.

I'm just going to take what's left,

string it straight to the top,

and there's, like, one light at the top of the tree.

So that's why that's Catherine's job.

Although my way would be a nice way

to share the Gospel, you know,

here's all the light at the bottom of the tree.

That's paradise.

Here's all the darkness in the middle of the tree.

That's paradise lost.

And here's the one light at the top.

That's Jesus Christ.

He's the hope and the light of the world.

Catherine has our tree.

I want to start today by saying

that light is the opposite of darkness.

I know I just blew your minds,

so I'm going to say it one more time.

Light is the opposite of darkness.

And the people of God receiving this text of Isaiah 60

are a people who are living in darkness,

people living in distress and gloom,

sorrow and anguish and oppression.

Because of the Babylonian invasion,

the Babylonian exile,

as we said before, they've had loved ones die.

They've had their families ripped apart.

They've had their homes torn down,

their city burned to ashes,

their temple has been reduced to rubble.

And they've been living as refugees

in a foreign land for quite a long time.

And perhaps you feel that you're living in darkness today.

You look at your life and you wonder

if God is present with you in any way.

Maybe you feel like these people,

like a smoldering wick that's about to burn out.

All the color in your life has gone away.

And all you can see is brokenness and bondage and suffering.

And the image here with two words of Isaiah 60

is sort of like a teenager that's asleep on a Saturday morning

and they're in a dark room.

It's just, they're dead to the world.

And mom comes into that dark room

and she throws back the curtains

and light comes flooding in.

And what does she say?

She says, rise and shine.

A new day has dawned.

And of course, the teenager so appreciates

the wisdom of his mother

that he just bounces out of bed.

But the message today from Isaiah 60

is that God's light will draw all nations

to know him as savior.

That's the promise of Isaiah 60,

that God's light will draw all nations

to know him as savior.

And I want us to think for a minute about God's,

these two words that God speaks to his people,

rise and shine.

Verse one, arise and shine for your light has come

and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth

and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you

and his glory appears over you.

God is likening himself to the sun,

the sun that rises at dawn,

the sun that breaks the darkness with light,

the sun that scatters the night away.

And how is it that God is the light of the world?

Well, we know that the sun gives life

and that if the sun were to go out,

if it were just to never come back out again,

we would all freeze to death, right?

If the sun went down tonight

and didn't come up tomorrow,

all of our plants would begin to die

and it would kill the food chain

and we would be dead pretty soon.

And so imagine a world with no sun.

It's all darkness and death.

And now imagine a world with no God,

no one to give us life,

no one to give us being and existence.

The light of the sun is an image of life.

But the light of the sun is also an image of the truth.

We were locking up here on Sunday night

after Lessons and Carols

and Walter, our third child,

began turning out the lights

as I was moving around the sanctuary.

So I started bumping into pews, right?

Because without the light,

I didn't know the truth about where I was

and what was in front of me

and where I was going.

And it's similar with us.

Without the light of God's truth,

we get hurt.

We feel pain.

This is why the psalmist says in Psalm 36,

in your light, we see light.

The sun is not an object that you look at.

It's the way that you see everything else.

If you look directly at the sun,

you're going to burn your eyes out.

But if you look,

but you look at everything else

by the light of the sun.

And God says,

I'm going to shine my light on you.

And when I shine my light on you,

I'm not only going to give you life,

I'm going to pour out all of my knowledge

and my wisdom and my truth on you.

Light is life-giving.

Light is truth-revealing.

And light also is joy-producing.

Why do we post all of our sunset

and sunrise pictures on social media?

Right?

Why do we go in search of these things?

Why do I go out on these dark days of December

and look for that one sunny spot

on those steps over there

and on the steps out front of the church

to read my book for 15 minutes?

Because it makes me feel good.

Because we're searching for beauty.

We're searching for joy.

We're searching for something to gladden our heart.

And God is reassuring his people

that sit in the deep darkness

of the Babylonian exile

and their return

and all their collective despondency

and their individual depression.

He says to them,

I'm going to shine on you like the rising sun.

And my light is going to give you life

and truth and joy.

Notice the double imperative

that God says to his people.

He says, in light of that,

rise and shine.

Rise and shine.

Get up, my people,

and glow in the dark.

Why?

Because, verse one,

the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

The light of my eternal glory

is going to shine on you.

And because of that, verse three,

nations will come to your light

and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Because my light

and my glory

is flooding you,

the people,

you are going to shine

with brightness

and radiance

and brilliance

and glory

and beauty.

And when you do,

you're going to have this magnetic

drawing power

that's going to cause the world

to run to you

to get the life,

to get the truth,

to get the joy

that the light of my glory

brings.

One of the most audacious claims

that Jesus makes

in the Gospels

is he says,

I am the light of the world.

But I think what's even more audacious

than that

is in the Sermon on the Mount,

Jesus turns to his disciples

and he says,

you are the light of the world.

And the Apostle Paul

says this in Ephesians 5,

he says,

for you were once darkness

but now you are light

in the Lord,

live as children

of the light.

And I just want to encourage us

as we think about

the light of God

shining like the sun

that we would start our days

over these stressful days

of the holidays

as the sun is coming up

that we would begin our days

with 10 minutes

or 15 or 20 minutes

just letting the objective reality

of God's light

come flooding in

and become the subjective experience

of our lives.

That we would allow

God's light

to dawn upon our souls.

That we would allow

the light of God's word

and God's spirit

to flood us

on the inside

and illumine us

from the inside out

that his life coming in

would give us his life

and his truth

and his joy

and when it does that

it will make us

a radiant

and an attractive people

that Isaiah says

will glow in the dark.

We will arise

and shine.

You with me so far?

God's light.

What a beautiful image.

God's light

it says

will draw all

the nations.

God's light

will draw

all the nations.

How many

nations or cultures

do you think

are represented

here at Christ Church

this morning?

You can look around

take a guess.

How many nations?

How many cultures?

I can't even begin

to parse

the complexities

of just this little room

of people

but I think

that's directly tied

to Isaiah 60

this vision

of the city of God

this picture

of Jerusalem

renewed

this image

of Zion

exalted

and it shows us

this text

shows us

what it means

when the Lord's prayer

is answered.

When the kingdom

of God

comes on the earth

as it is in heaven

Isaiah 60 says

when it does

all the nations

and all their kings

will come

to live and worship

in the city of God

and when they do

enemies will be reconciled

war will be over

there will be no more

ethnic divisions

everyone will live together

in unity

and peace

it's a vision

of the city of God

as a place

of spiritual

brightness

and illumination

where the light

of God's glory

is drawing

the nations together

for their healing

and in verse 5

it says

then you will look

and be radiant

your heart will throb

and swell

with joy

why is this

such a thrilling

and exciting

vision

because it's a city

that no human

efforts

at urbanization

have yet been able

to produce

it's a city

that's built

by God

and what is the first

thing that God does

for this city

of Zion

we're told in verse 4

it says

lift up your eyes

and look about you

all assemble

and come to you

your sons come

from afar

and your daughters

are carried

on the hip

the last of the scattered

and exiled

children of Abraham

are going to be

willingly

and gently brought

from all parts

of the world

north, south, east, and west

the people of God

are all going to come

and be at home

and be at rest

with their God

but then it gets better

it says

in verse 5

look and be radiant

your heart will throb

and swell with joy

why?

because the wealth

on the seas

will be brought

to you

to you

the riches

of the nations

will come

surprisingly

all the Gentile nations

will stream

to Zion's light

they're going to be

like moss

to the flame

of God's glory

and it's this great image

of a caravan

of nations

all coming

to this

one city

and as they come

they're carrying

Zion's exiles home

but when they arrive

what do they do?

they bring all

of their wealth

all the abundance

of the nations

all the finest

that they have

and they give it

to God

I love verse 11

it says

your gates

will always stand open

they will never be shut

day or night

so that people

may bring you

the wealth

of the nations

the gates

of the city

are open

24-7

because the wealth

of the nations

is being continually

hauled

through those gates

in a constant

unending influx

of accumulated

foreign goods

to transform

and to glorify

the city

of God

you guys with me

so far?

can you mind

if I just nerd out

for a second

on this text?

I went to seminary

for three years

so it's got to be

worth something

okay?

when you hear

these places

Midian

Ifa

Sheba

Kedar

Nebeo

Tarshish

Lebanon

what does that

mean to us?

it means nothing

to us

but these were

the seven most

important trading

centers of the

ancient world

New York

London

Shanghai

Hong Kong

Tokyo

Singapore

Frankfurt

this is where

it's at

and this is where

it's all coming

from

and I want to

explain to you

the camels

and the ships

that are coming

from these trading

centers

in verse 6

the herds of

camels will

cover your land

young camels

of Midian

and Ephah

and all from

Sheba will come

bearing gold

and incense

we'll come back

to that in a second

and proclaiming

the praise

of the Lord

these camel trains

were the ships

of the desert

that came from

the east

from Arabia

and they were

symbols of great

economic power

and mobility

and they came

bringing what?

gold

and incense

and then in

verse 9

we're told

that surely

the islands

look to me

in the lead

are the ships

of Tarshish

bringing your

children from

afar

and with their

silver and gold

to the honor

of the Lord

your God

the Holy One

of Israel

for he has

endowed you

with splendor

just as these

camels come

from the east

from Arabia

so these ships

of Tarshish

come from the west

from Spain

and they're these

impressive

vessels of transport

that bring people

and silver

and gold

through the whole

Mediterranean world

and it's this image

of busy ports

endless loading

docks

crowded scales

agents hurrying

and scuttling about

shipping

and receiving

it's an image

of exotic

cultural products

in enormous

commercial wealth

coming flooding

and pouring

into the city

of God

and remember

who's hearing

this vision

it's people

maybe like you

who've given up

hope

that any sort

of quality

of life

is possible

for them

anymore

these are people

who lack

sufficient materials

to rebuild

the temple

of God

these are a people

for as long

as they can remember

the people of God

have been paying

imperial tribute

to other nations

to Assyria

to Babylon

to the Persians

and now here

all the goods

that have been

flowing out

from the people

of God

are somehow

miraculously

dramatically

reversed

and flowing

back in

the light

of the glory

of God

is so filling

the people

of God

that they glow

in the dark

and they draw

all these nations

to bring with them

their wealth

so that the camels

of Midian

why are they coming

in verse 6

they're coming

to proclaim

the praise

of the Lord

these ships

of Tarshish

in verse 9

why are they coming

they're coming

to honor the Lord

the Holy One

of Israel

all the technological

and cultural

and military

and commercial goods

that once were signs

of pagan power

are here in this moment

being cleansed

of all their prideful

and idolatrous functions

to serve a very different

purpose

all the camels

of Arabia

all the ships

of Tarshish

are coming

from the east

and coming

from the west

why

for the glory

of God

why

all of this

luxury

and extravagance

and prosperity

and generosity

this vision

tells us

that just as

the kings

and queens

brought tribute

to Solomon

so he could build

Yahweh's first temple

now he's doing it again

but this time

bigger

and better

you see all these

this gold

in verse 6

from Sheba

is going to beautify

the house of the Lord

and all that incense

is going to make

for a fragrant

sweet smelling

worship to God

and these flocks

from Kedar

in verse 7

these are going to become

costly sacrifices

on the altar

of the Lord

to adorn

his glorious temple

with his merciful

substitutionary

atonement

in verse 13

the timber

from Lebanon

is going to come

and strengthen

and adorn

the Lord's sanctuary

and glorify

the place

it says

where his feet

mysteriously

walk

among us

mortals

and verse 10

is shocking

the nations

and the kings

are not only

going to provide

the raw materials

but they themselves

are going to roll up

their sleeves

and get their hands

dirty

as they

begin to build

the house

of the Lord

themselves

you see

this new city

exists

for something

beyond itself

and beyond

its own

pleasure

and self

actualization

this is a place

where every knee

can come

and bow

and every tongue

can come

and confess

that Yahweh

the Holy One

of Israel

is the Savior

and Redeemer

of the whole world

Isaiah 60

reveals

that the world's

achievements

and wealth

and power

are destined

not for destruction

but for transformation

that each

cultural artifact

of every

diverse

and distinct

people group

will be put

into the service

of the glory

of God

this is a place

for all nations

and all cultures

to come

and surrender

allegiance

with extravagant

generosity

for the enhancing

of God's worship

for the building

up of the house

of the Holy One

of Israel

for the extending

of His kingdom

in every direction

every culture

is bringing

their best

to worship

to worship

the Lord

and that's why

friends

that's why

we come here

every Sunday

to bring

our unique gifts

to bring the best

that we have

to proclaim

the praise

of the Lord

to put our

sacrificial offerings

on His altar

and to adorn

and beautify

the glorious temple

of His diverse

global

multicultural

international

church

amen

God's light

we're told

is going to draw

all the nations

arise and shine

glow in the dark

my people

because I want to draw

all the nations

to myself

why

God's light

will draw

all nations

to know Him

as the Savior

to know Him

as the Savior

it's December 19th

so some of you

may be wondering

okay this is great

but what does all this

have to do with Christmas

I want to draw

your attention

back to verse 6

where it says

herds of camels

will come

from Midian

Ephah

and Sheba

and they're going to come

bearing gold

and incense

and proclaiming

the praise

of the Lord

and also verse 14

where it says

the children of your oppressors

will come bowing before you

all who despise you

will bow down

at your feet

and then in verse 16

then you will know

that I am the Lord

I the Lord

am your Savior

your Redeemer

the Mighty One

of Jacob

the question with these

prophetic texts

is always

when

and where

and how

is this going to happen

and the Gospels tell us

the Gospel of Matthew

tells us

that these wise kings

from the east

from Arabia

they came on camels

to the city

of Zion

and they asked

where is the one

born king of the Jews

and when they finally

found him

they saw the child

and were told

in the Gospels

that they bowed down

and they worshipped him

and what did they do

they opened their treasures

to him

and what were the gifts

of those Gentile kings

presented to him

gold

incense

and myrrh

kids you can come

study our little

nativity set

here from Rwanda

to see these gifts

that these kings

have brought

to Jesus

and why do they

give these gifts

to him

is it because

he's such a cute baby

these are wise kings

who've been seeking

the mystery

and meaning

of the cosmos

all their lives

these are men

who plumb the depths

of the wisdom

that history

and religion

and philosophy

has to offer

and at the end

of all their searching

they find themselves

drawn to this reality

from John chapter 1

John 1:14

verse 14

the word became flesh

and made his dwelling

among us

we have seen his glory

the glory of the only son

who came from the father

full of grace

and truth

why do these kings

from the east

bow down

why do they worship

why do they

pour out their treasures

because here is the word

the logos of God

the logic of God

the deep inner wisdom

that made the worlds

the logic that is beyond

all human logic

and that logic of God

has been made flesh

in a real historical person

the divine

preexistent

eternal

all creating

lord of nature

and of history

has become human

what mattered

has become matter

what gives meaning

is now material

and the life of the universe

is embodied

in this vulnerable

child

so that when they see

his face

they see the face

of God

and when they look

in his eyes

God is looking back

at them

and when they speak

the name of this one

who's born from the womb

of Mary

and birthed in a cave

in Bethlehem

they're calling on the name

of almighty God

the word

became flesh

he made his dwelling

among us

literally

it says

the word became flesh

and he tabernacled

among us

he became a temple

in our midst

so that these words

of Isaiah 60

about all the nations

streaming

to worship

at the house

of the Lord

John 1

tells us

that this child

is that point

of intersection

between the timeless

and time

between heaven

and earth

between humanity

and divinity

here the light

of the glory

of God

shines

and draws

these wise kings

from the east

they thought

to themselves

we have gone

to extraordinary

lengths

to get to this

cradle

but when they get

there

they only realize

that God

has gone to

extravagant lengths

to get into

a personal

relationship

with each

one

of them

and when these

kings see

in Jesus

this God

who is full

of grace

and truth

this God

who is full

of love

and faithfulness

what do they do

they bow down

and they worship

him

and they pour

out the best

that their culture

has

to offer

if you got

on a plane

today

and you

flew

to Israel

and you

went to

the church

of the nativity

in Bethlehem

the site

of Jesus

birth

you would

find that

the door

of that church

is so small

and so low

that you're

literally forced

to stoop down

if you want

to enter into it

it's one of my

favorite churches

in the whole world

you have to bow

down

to go inside

and once you're

in there

if you want

to go

to the cave

where Jesus

was born

you have to

walk down

these steps

and you have

to bend

your head

low

to get down

there

and then many

people once

they get down

to that level

they bow down

on the ground

so that they

can touch

the rocks

of that cave

and some people

just kiss

the dirt

that's in there

and you might

think well

what's up

with all this

stooping

and bending

and bowing

well when Isaiah

says in verse 16

then you will know

that I

the Lord

your Savior

your Redeemer

the Mighty One

of you

no one could

have imagined

that God

was going to

empty himself

of all of his

glory

and stoop down

as low as a

tiny crying

baby in a

manger

to be our

Savior

no one

could fathom

that God

would bend

as low as

a man

of sorrows

and a friend

of sinners

to become

our Redeemer

no one

could even

conjure up

this image

of the Mighty

One of Jacob

bowing down

as low as a

slave

to wash

our feet

no one

could have

possibly come up

with the idea

that God

became like us

so that he could

stretch out his arms

to give us

a hug

and absolutely

no one

would have

ever

ever imagined

that that God

on Good Friday

would stretch out

those arms

on his cross

and that the light

of the world

the light of the glory

of God

would be plunged

into the darkness

to bear the weight

of our guilt

and shame

to pay the debt

of our selfishness

and sin

and to die

the death

that we deserve

to die

and you see

that's the reason

we stoop

and we bend

and we bow

as Christians

because the Holy One

of Israel

stooped

and bent

and bowed

to become

our Savior

and to become

our Redeemer

and so Christ

Church

that's my prayer

for us

that we would

arise

and that we

would shine

that we would

glow in the dark

that God

would so shine

the light of his

glory on us

the glory of his

one and only son

that we would

become transfigured

into brilliant

illumined

radiant

beautiful

Christ-like

life-giving

truth-revealing

joy-producing

people

who in our

stooping

and our

bending

and our

bowing

before God

and before

other people

we would shine

the light of God's

glory into this

world

that we would

shine the light

of God's glory

into the city

where every

people and tribe

and nation

and tongue

could be drawn

to this

stooping

bending

and bowing

Savior

whose light

shines in the

darkness

and the darkness

has not

overcome it

this is my

prayer

in the name

of the Father

Son and Holy

Spirit

Amen